Ezekiel 36 — with JFB Commentary
The King James text with the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary (1871, public domain) directly beneath the verses it explains. Verses without a JFB note stand alone.
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Ezekiel 36
Prophesy Unto the Mountains of Israel
1Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
CHAPTER 36
Eze 36:1-38. Israel Avenged of Her Foes, and Restored, First to Inward Holiness, Then to Outward Prosperity.
The distinction between Israel and the heathen (as Edom) is: Israel has a covenant relation to God ensuring restoration after chastisement, so that the heathen's hope of getting possession of the elect people's inheritance must fail, and they themselves be made desolate (Eze 36:1-15). The reason for the chastisement of Israel was Israel's sin and profanation of God's name (Eze 36:16-21). God has good in store for Israel, for His own name's sake, to revive His people; first, by a spiritual renewal of their hearts, and, next, by an external restoration to prosperity (Eze 36:22-33). The result is that the heathen shall be impressed with the power and goodness of God manifested so palpably towards the restored people (Eze 36:34-38).
1-2. mountains of Israel--in contrast to "Mount Seir" of the previous prophecy. They are here personified; Israel's elevation is moral, not merely physical, as Edom's. Her hills are "the everlasting hills" of Jacob's prophecy (Ge 49:26). "The enemy" (Edom, the singled-out representative of all God's foes), with a shout of exultation, "Aha!" had claimed, as the nearest kinsman of Israel (the brother of their father Esau), his vacated inheritance; as much as to say, the so-called "everlasting" inheritance of Israel and of the "hills," which typified the unmoved perpetuity of it (Psa 125:1, 2), has come to an end, in spite of the promise of God, and has become "ours" (compare De 32:13; 33:15).
CHAPTER 36
Eze 36:1-38. Israel Avenged of Her Foes, and Restored, First to Inward Holiness, Then to Outward Prosperity.
The distinction between Israel and the heathen (as Edom) is: Israel has a covenant relation to God ensuring restoration after chastisement, so that the heathen's hope of getting possession of the elect people's inheritance must fail, and they themselves be made desolate (Eze 36:1-15). The reason for the chastisement of Israel was Israel's sin and profanation of God's name (Eze 36:16-21). God has good in store for Israel, for His own name's sake, to revive His people; first, by a spiritual renewal of their hearts, and, next, by an external restoration to prosperity (Eze 36:22-33). The result is that the heathen shall be impressed with the power and goodness of God manifested so palpably towards the restored people (Eze 36:34-38).
1-2. mountains of Israel--in contrast to "Mount Seir" of the previous prophecy. They are here personified; Israel's elevation is moral, not merely physical, as Edom's. Her hills are "the everlasting hills" of Jacob's prophecy (Ge 49:26). "The enemy" (Edom, the singled-out representative of all God's foes), with a shout of exultation, "Aha!" had claimed, as the nearest kinsman of Israel (the brother of their father Esau), his vacated inheritance; as much as to say, the so-called "everlasting" inheritance of Israel and of the "hills," which typified the unmoved perpetuity of it (Psa 125:1, 2), has come to an end, in spite of the promise of God, and has become "ours" (compare De 32:13; 33:15).
The Pulpit Commentary
The present chapter is entirely devoted to the consolation of Israel, though its parts are derived from two separate "words" of Jehovah. Eze_36:1-15 belong to the "word" which opened with the first verse of the preceding chapter; Eze_36:16 begins another "word," which only closes at Eze_37:14. The subject of the first part is the comfort offered to Israel in the destruction threatened against the heathen, and in the blessings promised to her land and people.
Prophesy unto the mountains of Israel. This prediction must be read in contrast, first, to that delivered against the mountains of Seir in the last chapter (35.), and, secondly, to that uttered against the mountains of Israel at an earlier stage of Ezekiel's activity (Eze_6:1-14.). That "the mountains of Israel" was a familiar expression for the land of Israel, see Eze_6:1; Eze_17:22; Eze_33:28; Eze_34:14; Eze_37:22; Eze_38:8; and comp. Psa_121:1; Isa_52:7.
The present chapter is entirely devoted to the consolation of Israel, though its parts are derived from two separate "words" of Jehovah. Eze_36:1-15 belong to the "word" which opened with the first verse of the preceding chapter; Eze_36:16 begins another "word," which only closes at Eze_37:14. The subject of the first part is the comfort offered to Israel in the destruction threatened against the heathen, and in the blessings promised to her land and people.
Prophesy unto the mountains of Israel. This prediction must be read in contrast, first, to that delivered against the mountains of Seir in the last chapter (35.), and, secondly, to that uttered against the mountains of Israel at an earlier stage of Ezekiel's activity (Eze_6:1-14.). That "the mountains of Israel" was a familiar expression for the land of Israel, see Eze_6:1; Eze_17:22; Eze_33:28; Eze_34:14; Eze_37:22; Eze_38:8; and comp. Psa_121:1; Isa_52:7.
2Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
The Pulpit Commentary
Because the enemy hath said against you. The ground of Jehovah's purposed proceeding against Edom and the surrounding heathen peoples (Eze_36:3, Eze_36:5) is expressly declared to be the jubilation over the downfall of Israel, and the eagerness with which they sought to appropriate to themselves her forsaken land. Aha! Exulting over Israel's misfortune (comp. Eze_25:3; Psa_40:16). The ancient high places, which Israel's enemies fancied had become theirs in possession, were probably "the everlasting hills" of Gen_49:26 and Deu_33:15, the principal mountains of Palestine, which, as Havernick finely observes, were "the honorable witnesses and indestructible monuments of that ancient blessing spoken by Israel's ancestor, and still resting on the people;" and to assail which was, in consequence, not only to sin against Jehovah, but to attempt an enterprise foredoomed to failure and shame. At the same time, Plumptre's suggestion ('Ezekiel: an Ideal Biography,' Expositor, vol. 8.284; and Unpublished Notes) is not without plausibility, that, considering the special significance of the term bamoth in Ezekiel, the phrase should be held as referring to the sanctuaries which stood upon those heights—including, of course, the chief sanctuary, or temple (Schroder); in support of which the dean cites the frequency with which the enemies of Israel, as, for instance, the Assyrians and the Moabites, in their inscriptions, boasted that they had captured these sanctuaries.
Because the enemy hath said against you. The ground of Jehovah's purposed proceeding against Edom and the surrounding heathen peoples (Eze_36:3, Eze_36:5) is expressly declared to be the jubilation over the downfall of Israel, and the eagerness with which they sought to appropriate to themselves her forsaken land. Aha! Exulting over Israel's misfortune (comp. Eze_25:3; Psa_40:16). The ancient high places, which Israel's enemies fancied had become theirs in possession, were probably "the everlasting hills" of Gen_49:26 and Deu_33:15, the principal mountains of Palestine, which, as Havernick finely observes, were "the honorable witnesses and indestructible monuments of that ancient blessing spoken by Israel's ancestor, and still resting on the people;" and to assail which was, in consequence, not only to sin against Jehovah, but to attempt an enterprise foredoomed to failure and shame. At the same time, Plumptre's suggestion ('Ezekiel: an Ideal Biography,' Expositor, vol. 8.284; and Unpublished Notes) is not without plausibility, that, considering the special significance of the term bamoth in Ezekiel, the phrase should be held as referring to the sanctuaries which stood upon those heights—including, of course, the chief sanctuary, or temple (Schroder); in support of which the dean cites the frequency with which the enemies of Israel, as, for instance, the Assyrians and the Moabites, in their inscriptions, boasted that they had captured these sanctuaries.
3Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
3. Literally, "Because, even because."
swallowed you up--literally, "panted after" you, as a beast after its prey; implying the greedy cupidity of Edom as to Israel's inheritance (Psa 56:1, 2).
lips of talkers--literally, "lips of the tongue," that is, of the slanderer, the man of tongue. Edom slandered Israel because of the connection of the latter with Jehovah, as though He were unable to save them. De 28:37, and Jr 24:9 had foretold Israel's reproach among the heathen (Da 9:16).
3. Literally, "Because, even because."
swallowed you up--literally, "panted after" you, as a beast after its prey; implying the greedy cupidity of Edom as to Israel's inheritance (Psa 56:1, 2).
lips of talkers--literally, "lips of the tongue," that is, of the slanderer, the man of tongue. Edom slandered Israel because of the connection of the latter with Jehovah, as though He were unable to save them. De 28:37, and Jr 24:9 had foretold Israel's reproach among the heathen (Da 9:16).
The Pulpit Commentary
Therefore. Ewald calls attention to the fivefold repetition of this conjunction, saying, "It repeats itself five times, the reasons [for God's judgments] against these enemies thrusting themselves forward, before the discourse calmly dwells upon the mountains of Israel, of which it is strictly intended to treat." As it were, the prophet's emotion is so strong, and his indignation against Israel's enemies so vehement, that, though he three times in succession begins to prophesy to the mountains of Israel, he on each occasion breaks off before he can get his message told, to expatiate upon the wickedness of Israel's foes. In the prophet's estimation that wickedness was so heinous as to inevitably carry in its bosom appropriate retribution. Because—literally, because and because, or even because, a reduplication for the sake of emphasis, as in Eze_13:10 and Le 26:43—they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side; literally, wasting of and panting after you (are) round about. Fairbairn, Ewald, and Smend, deriving שַׁמוֹת from נָשַׁם, "to pant," rather than from שָׁמַם, "to lay waste," translate, "because there is snapping and puffing at you round about," which Plumptre thinks "falls in better with the context," since "the prophet's spirit seems to dwell throughout on the derision rather than the desolation to which his country, the mountains of Israel, had been subject." And ye are taken up; literally, ye are made to come, if וַתֵּעֲלוּ be an imperf; niph. of עָלַה, "to go up "(Rosenmüller, Schroder); or, ye are come, if it be imperf; kal of עָלַל, "to press, or go in" (Ewald, Havernick); or, ye are gone up, if it be second pers. kal of עָלַה (Hitzig, Smend). In the lips of talkers; literally, upon the lip of the tongue—the lip being regarded as the instrument or organ with which the tongue speaks. Havernick unnecessarily takes "the tongue" as equivalent to "people" in the parallel clause—a signification לָשׁוֹן has only in Isa_66:18; while Kliefoth views it as synonymous with "slander," as in Psa_140:11, and translates, "upon the lip of slander and of the evil report of the people." Keil sees in "the tongue" a personification for the "tongue-man" or talker of Psa_140:11; and Gesenius considers the two clauses as tautological.
Therefore. Ewald calls attention to the fivefold repetition of this conjunction, saying, "It repeats itself five times, the reasons [for God's judgments] against these enemies thrusting themselves forward, before the discourse calmly dwells upon the mountains of Israel, of which it is strictly intended to treat." As it were, the prophet's emotion is so strong, and his indignation against Israel's enemies so vehement, that, though he three times in succession begins to prophesy to the mountains of Israel, he on each occasion breaks off before he can get his message told, to expatiate upon the wickedness of Israel's foes. In the prophet's estimation that wickedness was so heinous as to inevitably carry in its bosom appropriate retribution. Because—literally, because and because, or even because, a reduplication for the sake of emphasis, as in Eze_13:10 and Le 26:43—they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side; literally, wasting of and panting after you (are) round about. Fairbairn, Ewald, and Smend, deriving שַׁמוֹת from נָשַׁם, "to pant," rather than from שָׁמַם, "to lay waste," translate, "because there is snapping and puffing at you round about," which Plumptre thinks "falls in better with the context," since "the prophet's spirit seems to dwell throughout on the derision rather than the desolation to which his country, the mountains of Israel, had been subject." And ye are taken up; literally, ye are made to come, if וַתֵּעֲלוּ be an imperf; niph. of עָלַה, "to go up "(Rosenmüller, Schroder); or, ye are come, if it be imperf; kal of עָלַל, "to press, or go in" (Ewald, Havernick); or, ye are gone up, if it be second pers. kal of עָלַה (Hitzig, Smend). In the lips of talkers; literally, upon the lip of the tongue—the lip being regarded as the instrument or organ with which the tongue speaks. Havernick unnecessarily takes "the tongue" as equivalent to "people" in the parallel clause—a signification לָשׁוֹן has only in Isa_66:18; while Kliefoth views it as synonymous with "slander," as in Psa_140:11, and translates, "upon the lip of slander and of the evil report of the people." Keil sees in "the tongue" a personification for the "tongue-man" or talker of Psa_140:11; and Gesenius considers the two clauses as tautological.
4Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. Inanimate creatures are addressed, to imply that the creature also, as it were, groans for deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Ro 8:19-21) [Polanus]. The completeness of the renewed blessedness of all parts of the land is implied.
derision--(Psa 79:4).
4. Inanimate creatures are addressed, to imply that the creature also, as it were, groans for deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Ro 8:19-21) [Polanus]. The completeness of the renewed blessedness of all parts of the land is implied.
derision--(Psa 79:4).
The Pulpit Commentary
The rivers (or, channels, bottoms, dales) were the water-courses, wadies, or ravines through which mountain streams flowed, as in Eze_35:8; and the residue of the heathen were the surrounding nations that had mocked Israel in her degradation, and were then profiting by her fall (comp. Psa_79:4).
The rivers (or, channels, bottoms, dales) were the water-courses, wadies, or ravines through which mountain streams flowed, as in Eze_35:8; and the residue of the heathen were the surrounding nations that had mocked Israel in her degradation, and were then profiting by her fall (comp. Psa_79:4).
5Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
5. to cast it out for a prey--that is, to take the land for a prey, its inhabitants being cast out. Or the land is compared to a prey cast forth to wild beasts. Fairbairn needlessly alters the Hebrew pointing and translates, "that they may plunder its pasturage."
5. to cast it out for a prey--that is, to take the land for a prey, its inhabitants being cast out. Or the land is compared to a prey cast forth to wild beasts. Fairbairn needlessly alters the Hebrew pointing and translates, "that they may plunder its pasturage."
The Pulpit Commentary
Surely. אִם־לא, the particle of adjuration, as in Eze_5:11; Eze_33:27; Eze_34:8; Eze_38:19. The fire of my jealousy. Zephaniah (Zep_1:18; Zep_3:8) uses the same phrase. Similar expressions occur in Eze_21:31, "the fire of my wrath;" and Eze_38:19, "in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath" (comp. Deu_4:24). Against all Idumea. Edom. As in Eze_35:15, so here, it is the wickedness, more especially of the Edomites, that excites the prophet's indignation. They had not only concluded that Israel's territory should be to them for a possession, but they had done so with the joy of all their heart, and with despiteful minds; or, with contempt of soul (comp. Eze_25:6, Eze_25:15); i.e. with deadly (Ewald) or hearty (Smend) contempt. "The temper of the Edomites," writes Plumptre, "might almost serve as the regulative instance of the form of evil for which Aristotle ('Eth. Nit.,' 2, 7, 15) seems to have coined the word ἐπιχαιρεκακία, the temper which rejoices in the ills that fall on others." The concluding clause, to cast it out for a prey, has been differently rendered.
(1) Regarding מִגְרָשָׁהּ as an infinitive after לְמַעַן, "to spoil it," i.e. the land (Gesenius), "empty out" (Keil) or "drive out" (Ewald, Smend) its inhabitants (so as to get it) for a prey.
(2) Taking מִגְרָשָׁהּ as a noun, "for the sake of its possession for a prey" (Kliefoth), that their suburbs should be a prey" (Hengstenberg) "on account of its pasturage for a prey" (Schroder).
(3) Changing לָבַז into לָבֹז, "in order to plunder its produce" (Hitzig) or "pasturage" (Fairbairn).
Eze_36:6, Eze_36:7
Because ye have borne the shame of the heathen (i.e. the shame cast upon you by the heathen, see Eze_34:29)… surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. Not the shame which should be cast upon them by Israel, which would be retaliation, but their own shame—the shame due to them in virtue of the Divine law of retribution (Eze_16:52), their own curses come home to roost, Ezekiel seeming to distinguish between retaliation and retribution. "The law [of retribution] is demanded by the absolute righteousness of God. The judicial visitations of God cannot possibly be one-sided. Punishment can so much the less strike Israel alone, as precisely in its punishment the deep degradation of heathendom, its apostasy from God and its pride, has set itself forth in the most striking way" (Havernick). The certainty that this law would operate in the case of the heathen no less than in that of Israel, the prophet expresses by representing Jehovah as having lifted up his hand, or sworn that it should be so (comp. Eze_20:5, Eze_20:6, Eze_20:15, Eze_20:23, Eze_20:28; Eze_47:14; Exo_6:8; Num_14:30; Deu_32:40; and Virgil, 'AEneid,' 12.195, "Teaditque ad sidera dextram").
Surely. אִם־לא, the particle of adjuration, as in Eze_5:11; Eze_33:27; Eze_34:8; Eze_38:19. The fire of my jealousy. Zephaniah (Zep_1:18; Zep_3:8) uses the same phrase. Similar expressions occur in Eze_21:31, "the fire of my wrath;" and Eze_38:19, "in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath" (comp. Deu_4:24). Against all Idumea. Edom. As in Eze_35:15, so here, it is the wickedness, more especially of the Edomites, that excites the prophet's indignation. They had not only concluded that Israel's territory should be to them for a possession, but they had done so with the joy of all their heart, and with despiteful minds; or, with contempt of soul (comp. Eze_25:6, Eze_25:15); i.e. with deadly (Ewald) or hearty (Smend) contempt. "The temper of the Edomites," writes Plumptre, "might almost serve as the regulative instance of the form of evil for which Aristotle ('Eth. Nit.,' 2, 7, 15) seems to have coined the word ἐπιχαιρεκακία, the temper which rejoices in the ills that fall on others." The concluding clause, to cast it out for a prey, has been differently rendered.
(1) Regarding מִגְרָשָׁהּ as an infinitive after לְמַעַן, "to spoil it," i.e. the land (Gesenius), "empty out" (Keil) or "drive out" (Ewald, Smend) its inhabitants (so as to get it) for a prey.
(2) Taking מִגְרָשָׁהּ as a noun, "for the sake of its possession for a prey" (Kliefoth), that their suburbs should be a prey" (Hengstenberg) "on account of its pasturage for a prey" (Schroder).
(3) Changing לָבַז into לָבֹז, "in order to plunder its produce" (Hitzig) or "pasturage" (Fairbairn).
Eze_36:6, Eze_36:7
Because ye have borne the shame of the heathen (i.e. the shame cast upon you by the heathen, see Eze_34:29)… surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. Not the shame which should be cast upon them by Israel, which would be retaliation, but their own shame—the shame due to them in virtue of the Divine law of retribution (Eze_16:52), their own curses come home to roost, Ezekiel seeming to distinguish between retaliation and retribution. "The law [of retribution] is demanded by the absolute righteousness of God. The judicial visitations of God cannot possibly be one-sided. Punishment can so much the less strike Israel alone, as precisely in its punishment the deep degradation of heathendom, its apostasy from God and its pride, has set itself forth in the most striking way" (Havernick). The certainty that this law would operate in the case of the heathen no less than in that of Israel, the prophet expresses by representing Jehovah as having lifted up his hand, or sworn that it should be so (comp. Eze_20:5, Eze_20:6, Eze_20:15, Eze_20:23, Eze_20:28; Eze_47:14; Exo_6:8; Num_14:30; Deu_32:40; and Virgil, 'AEneid,' 12.195, "Teaditque ad sidera dextram").
6Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
6. the shame of the heathen--namely, the shame with which the heathen cover you (Psa 123:3, 4).
6. the shame of the heathen--namely, the shame with which the heathen cover you (Psa 123:3, 4).
7Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
7. lifted ... mine hand--in token of an oath (Eze 20:5; Ge 14:22).
they shall bear their shame--a perpetual shame; whereas the "shame" which Israel bore from these heathen was only for a time.
7. lifted ... mine hand--in token of an oath (Eze 20:5; Ge 14:22).
they shall bear their shame--a perpetual shame; whereas the "shame" which Israel bore from these heathen was only for a time.
The Mountains Replenished with Men
8But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
8. they are at hand to come--that is, the Israelites are soon about to return to their land. This proves that the primary reference of the prophecy is to the return from Babylon, which was "at hand," or comparatively near. But this only in part fulfilled the prediction, the full and final blessing in future, and the restoration from Babylon was an earnest of it.
8. they are at hand to come--that is, the Israelites are soon about to return to their land. This proves that the primary reference of the prophecy is to the return from Babylon, which was "at hand," or comparatively near. But this only in part fulfilled the prediction, the full and final blessing in future, and the restoration from Babylon was an earnest of it.
The Pulpit Commentary
For they are at hand to come. Keil and Plumptre make the subject of the verb the material blessings in which Israel's prosperity is depicted as consisting, viz. the foliage and fruit her mountains were soon to bear for the people of Jehovah. The majority of expositors believe the subject to be the people whose return from exile was in this way declared to be approaching. Nor is there any reason why Ezekiel should not have represented the return from exile as an event soon to take place, since of the seventy years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah (Jer_25:11) at least twenty years had passed, if its commencement be dated from the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Eze_33:21); and the fulfillment of Jehovah's promise was to the prophet so much a matter of certainty (Eze_11:17) that his fervent imagination conceived it as at hand.
For they are at hand to come. Keil and Plumptre make the subject of the verb the material blessings in which Israel's prosperity is depicted as consisting, viz. the foliage and fruit her mountains were soon to bear for the people of Jehovah. The majority of expositors believe the subject to be the people whose return from exile was in this way declared to be approaching. Nor is there any reason why Ezekiel should not have represented the return from exile as an event soon to take place, since of the seventy years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah (Jer_25:11) at least twenty years had passed, if its commencement be dated from the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Eze_33:21); and the fulfillment of Jehovah's promise was to the prophet so much a matter of certainty (Eze_11:17) that his fervent imagination conceived it as at hand.
9For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
The Pulpit Commentary
I am for you. He had previously been against (Eze_5:8; Eze_13:8), but was now for Israel and against Seir (Eze_35:3). This change of dispensation implied no mutation in God, but merely that, as God had previously visited Israel with judgment on account of sin, so henceforth would he visit her with grace on condition of repentance. I will turn unto you. Always it is presupposed that Israel turns unto Jehovah.
Eze_36:10, Eze_36:11
I will multiply men upon you. Jehovah's promise contemplated a return of both sections of the Golah, the whole house of Israel, Ephraim as well as Judah (comp. Eze_20:40), to the land from which they had been deported, and a restoration of the united kingdom to a condition of prosperity in which its cities should again be inhabited, its ruined homesteads repaired, its fields cultivated, and its flocks and herds multiplied (see Eze_16:55; Isa_44:26; Isa_54:3; Isa_61:4)—a condition of prosperity so great that it should surpass any measure or degree of good fortune previously enjoyed (comp. Deu_30:5; Job_42:12).
I am for you. He had previously been against (Eze_5:8; Eze_13:8), but was now for Israel and against Seir (Eze_35:3). This change of dispensation implied no mutation in God, but merely that, as God had previously visited Israel with judgment on account of sin, so henceforth would he visit her with grace on condition of repentance. I will turn unto you. Always it is presupposed that Israel turns unto Jehovah.
Eze_36:10, Eze_36:11
I will multiply men upon you. Jehovah's promise contemplated a return of both sections of the Golah, the whole house of Israel, Ephraim as well as Judah (comp. Eze_20:40), to the land from which they had been deported, and a restoration of the united kingdom to a condition of prosperity in which its cities should again be inhabited, its ruined homesteads repaired, its fields cultivated, and its flocks and herds multiplied (see Eze_16:55; Isa_44:26; Isa_54:3; Isa_61:4)—a condition of prosperity so great that it should surpass any measure or degree of good fortune previously enjoyed (comp. Deu_30:5; Job_42:12).
10And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
10. wastes builded--Is 58:12; 61:4; Am 9:11, 12, 14, where, as here (Eze 34:23, 24), the names of David, Messiah's type, and Edom, Israel's foe, are introduced in connection with the coming restoration.
10. wastes builded--Is 58:12; 61:4; Am 9:11, 12, 14, where, as here (Eze 34:23, 24), the names of David, Messiah's type, and Edom, Israel's foe, are introduced in connection with the coming restoration.
11And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. do better ... than at your beginnings--as in the case of Job (Job 42:12). Whereas the heathen nations fall irrevocably, Israel shall be more than restored; its last estate shall exceed even its first.
11. do better ... than at your beginnings--as in the case of Job (Job 42:12). Whereas the heathen nations fall irrevocably, Israel shall be more than restored; its last estate shall exceed even its first.
12Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
12. to walk upon you--O mountains of Israel (Eze 36:8)!
thee ... thou--change from plural to singular: O hill of Zion, singled out from the other mountains of Israel (Eze 34:26); or land.
thou shall no more ... bereave them of men--Thou shalt no more provoke God to bereave them of children (so the ellipsis ought to be supplied, as Ezekiel probably alludes to Jr 15:7, "I will bereave them of children").
12. to walk upon you--O mountains of Israel (Eze 36:8)!
thee ... thou--change from plural to singular: O hill of Zion, singled out from the other mountains of Israel (Eze 34:26); or land.
thou shall no more ... bereave them of men--Thou shalt no more provoke God to bereave them of children (so the ellipsis ought to be supplied, as Ezekiel probably alludes to Jr 15:7, "I will bereave them of children").
13Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
13. Thou land devourest up men--alluding to the words of the spies (Nu 13:32). The land personified is represented as doing that which was done in it. Like an unnatural mother it devoured, that is, it was the grave of its people; of the Canaanites, its former possessors, through mutual wars, and finally by the sword of Israel; and now, of the Jews, through internal and external ills; for example, wars, famine (to which Eze 36:30, "reproach of famine among the heathen," implies the allusion here is).
13. Thou land devourest up men--alluding to the words of the spies (Nu 13:32). The land personified is represented as doing that which was done in it. Like an unnatural mother it devoured, that is, it was the grave of its people; of the Canaanites, its former possessors, through mutual wars, and finally by the sword of Israel; and now, of the Jews, through internal and external ills; for example, wars, famine (to which Eze 36:30, "reproach of famine among the heathen," implies the allusion here is).
14Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
14. bereave--so the Keri, or Hebrew Margin reads, to correspond to "bereave" in Eze 36:13; but "cause to fall" or "stumble," in the Hebrew text or Chetib, being the more difficult reading, is the one least likely to come from a corrector; also, it forms a good transition to the next subject, namely, the moral cause of the people's calamities, namely, their falls, or stumblings through sin. The latter ceasing, the former also cease. So the same expression follows in Eze 36:15, "Neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more."
14. bereave--so the Keri, or Hebrew Margin reads, to correspond to "bereave" in Eze 36:13; but "cause to fall" or "stumble," in the Hebrew text or Chetib, being the more difficult reading, is the one least likely to come from a corrector; also, it forms a good transition to the next subject, namely, the moral cause of the people's calamities, namely, their falls, or stumblings through sin. The latter ceasing, the former also cease. So the same expression follows in Eze 36:15, "Neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more."
The Pulpit Commentary
Thou shalt devour men no more. From the middle of Eze_36:12 the form of address changes from the plural to the singular, the whole country, mountains, and valleys being regarded as one land, as in Deu_3:25. The charge preferred against the country by her enemies was that she had been a land that devoured men and "bereaved its nations" (or, "nation," Revised Version); literally, an eater-up of men and a bereaver of thy nations; i.e. of Israel and Judah, perhaps also of the Canaanites, their predecessors (Fausset), the image being that of a wild beast which ravages the population and makes them childless, as in Eze_5:17 and Eze_14:15 (Smend), rather than that of an unnatural mother, a Rabenmutter, as in 2Ki_6:29, who devours her offspring (Ewald). This charge, in which, perhaps, the prophet detected an allusion to Num_13:32, had certainly in times past been true; not, however, as Hengstenberg suggests, because the land had been "an apple of discord for the Asiatic and African powers," or, as Ewald explains, because "the tremendous restlessness, the excited push and hurry of such a mentally active city must in any case have used up its inhabitants more rapidly;" but, as Keil, Plumptre, and others interpret, because of the judgments of sword, famine, and pestilence sent upon the land by Jehovah for its sins. These judgments had so destroyed its inhabitants, first the Canaanites, and latterly the two peoples of Israel and Judah, that "those who looked upon it deemed it a fatal land, which brought destruction to all who should occupy it" (Currey). In the golden age to which the prophet looked forward, no such reproach should be possible. Not only should the laud not bereave its nations (according to the Keri, followed by the Authorized and Revised Versions, as well as by Ewald and Smend), but (according to the Chethib, preferred by Keil, Kliefoth, Havernick, Heugstenberg, Schroder, and Plumptre) it should not even cause them (or it) to stumble; i.e. should no more cause its inhabitants to lapse into those sins, amongst which idolatry stood prominent, which entailed on them ruin. Hengstenberg's idea, that "moral stumbling is not to be thought of in this connection," is certainly to be rejected.
Thou shalt devour men no more. From the middle of Eze_36:12 the form of address changes from the plural to the singular, the whole country, mountains, and valleys being regarded as one land, as in Deu_3:25. The charge preferred against the country by her enemies was that she had been a land that devoured men and "bereaved its nations" (or, "nation," Revised Version); literally, an eater-up of men and a bereaver of thy nations; i.e. of Israel and Judah, perhaps also of the Canaanites, their predecessors (Fausset), the image being that of a wild beast which ravages the population and makes them childless, as in Eze_5:17 and Eze_14:15 (Smend), rather than that of an unnatural mother, a Rabenmutter, as in 2Ki_6:29, who devours her offspring (Ewald). This charge, in which, perhaps, the prophet detected an allusion to Num_13:32, had certainly in times past been true; not, however, as Hengstenberg suggests, because the land had been "an apple of discord for the Asiatic and African powers," or, as Ewald explains, because "the tremendous restlessness, the excited push and hurry of such a mentally active city must in any case have used up its inhabitants more rapidly;" but, as Keil, Plumptre, and others interpret, because of the judgments of sword, famine, and pestilence sent upon the land by Jehovah for its sins. These judgments had so destroyed its inhabitants, first the Canaanites, and latterly the two peoples of Israel and Judah, that "those who looked upon it deemed it a fatal land, which brought destruction to all who should occupy it" (Currey). In the golden age to which the prophet looked forward, no such reproach should be possible. Not only should the laud not bereave its nations (according to the Keri, followed by the Authorized and Revised Versions, as well as by Ewald and Smend), but (according to the Chethib, preferred by Keil, Kliefoth, Havernick, Heugstenberg, Schroder, and Plumptre) it should not even cause them (or it) to stumble; i.e. should no more cause its inhabitants to lapse into those sins, amongst which idolatry stood prominent, which entailed on them ruin. Hengstenberg's idea, that "moral stumbling is not to be thought of in this connection," is certainly to be rejected.
15Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.
The Pulpit Commentary
Neither will I cause men to hear in thee—let thee hear, proclaim against thee (Revised Version); or literally, cause to be heard against thee—the shame of the heathen any more; i.e. the contemptuous speech uttered against thee by the heathen, equivalent to the reproach of the people; or, peoples; i.e. the reproach cast upon thee by the nations (see Eze_16:57; Eze_22:4; and comp. Jos_5:9; Mic_6:16), rather than, as Curtsy suggests, the reproach cast upon thee by thy rightful possessors for want of fertility. This prophecy clearly looked beyond the return from exile under Zerubbabel and Joshua, Ezra and Neherajah, since under these leaders only a portion of the whole house of Israel reestablished themselves in Canaan, while the land was often afterwards subjected to reproach and oppression under heathen powers. At the same time, the homecoming from Babylon and the prosperity that ensued thereupon were partial fulfillments of the blessings here promised.
Neither will I cause men to hear in thee—let thee hear, proclaim against thee (Revised Version); or literally, cause to be heard against thee—the shame of the heathen any more; i.e. the contemptuous speech uttered against thee by the heathen, equivalent to the reproach of the people; or, peoples; i.e. the reproach cast upon thee by the nations (see Eze_16:57; Eze_22:4; and comp. Jos_5:9; Mic_6:16), rather than, as Curtsy suggests, the reproach cast upon thee by thy rightful possessors for want of fertility. This prophecy clearly looked beyond the return from exile under Zerubbabel and Joshua, Ezra and Neherajah, since under these leaders only a portion of the whole house of Israel reestablished themselves in Canaan, while the land was often afterwards subjected to reproach and oppression under heathen powers. At the same time, the homecoming from Babylon and the prosperity that ensued thereupon were partial fulfillments of the blessings here promised.
Why Israel Was Scattered
16Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
The Pulpit Commentary
The oracle, commencing with this verse and extending to Eze_37:14, has an ultimate connection with that which precedes. Having predicted a golden age in the future for Israel, when her people should have returned from banishment her cities should again be inhabited and her fields cultivated, the prophet is directed
(1) to explain that the ground of this would not have in any worthiness Jehovah should behold in Israel, who had rather in the past been punished and dispersed (Eze_37:16-20), but only in the regard he, Jehovah, should have for his own holy Name or character (Eze_37:21-24);
(2) to intimate that this glorious period should be accompanied by a moral and spiritual renovation of the people, which, however, could and therefore would be brought about only by God himself giving them a new heart and a new spirit, again for his own Name's sake (Eze_37:25 -32), and which, when attained, should lead to a prosperity so unparalleled as to recall the pristine splendors of earth's paradisiacal condition, and convince the heathen that should then be sharers in Israel's felicity that Jehovah alone was God (verses 33-38); and
(3) to remove all doubt from the people's minds as to the possibility of this happening by the vision of the dry bones (Eze_37:1-14).
The oracle, commencing with this verse and extending to Eze_37:14, has an ultimate connection with that which precedes. Having predicted a golden age in the future for Israel, when her people should have returned from banishment her cities should again be inhabited and her fields cultivated, the prophet is directed
(1) to explain that the ground of this would not have in any worthiness Jehovah should behold in Israel, who had rather in the past been punished and dispersed (Eze_37:16-20), but only in the regard he, Jehovah, should have for his own holy Name or character (Eze_37:21-24);
(2) to intimate that this glorious period should be accompanied by a moral and spiritual renovation of the people, which, however, could and therefore would be brought about only by God himself giving them a new heart and a new spirit, again for his own Name's sake (Eze_37:25 -32), and which, when attained, should lead to a prosperity so unparalleled as to recall the pristine splendors of earth's paradisiacal condition, and convince the heathen that should then be sharers in Israel's felicity that Jehovah alone was God (verses 33-38); and
(3) to remove all doubt from the people's minds as to the possibility of this happening by the vision of the dry bones (Eze_37:1-14).
17Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
17. removed woman--(Le 15:19, &c.).
17. removed woman--(Le 15:19, &c.).
The Pulpit Commentary
That Israel's restoration should not be brought about on account of Israel's merit, the prophet shows by briefly rehearsing the story of Israel's demerit, as the reason of her exile.
Their way was before me. Their ways and doings, i.e. their violent deeds and idolatrous practices (Eze_36:18), were as morally loathsome in Jehovah's sight as the uncleanness of a woman in her separation was materially disgusting. The comparison may have been derived from Isa_64:6, but was as likely to have been original, seeing Ezekiel was a priest-prophet, to whom the details of the Levitical Law must have been familiar (comp. Eze_18:6; Le 15:19).
That Israel's restoration should not be brought about on account of Israel's merit, the prophet shows by briefly rehearsing the story of Israel's demerit, as the reason of her exile.
Their way was before me. Their ways and doings, i.e. their violent deeds and idolatrous practices (Eze_36:18), were as morally loathsome in Jehovah's sight as the uncleanness of a woman in her separation was materially disgusting. The comparison may have been derived from Isa_64:6, but was as likely to have been original, seeing Ezekiel was a priest-prophet, to whom the details of the Levitical Law must have been familiar (comp. Eze_18:6; Le 15:19).
18Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it:
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
18-19. The reason for their removal was their sin, which God's holiness could not let pass unpunished; just as a woman's legal uncleanness was the reason for her being separated from the congregation.
18-19. The reason for their removal was their sin, which God's holiness could not let pass unpunished; just as a woman's legal uncleanness was the reason for her being separated from the congregation.
19And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them.
The Pulpit Commentary
According to their way and according to their doings I judged them. The language hints at a correspondence between the punishment and the crime. As a woman in her separation was not only defiled, but separated from the congregation Le 15:19), so Israel, having defiled both herself and her land, required to be removed from it (Le Eze_18:28). And she was. Jehovah scattered her among the heathen and dispersed her through the countries.
According to their way and according to their doings I judged them. The language hints at a correspondence between the punishment and the crime. As a woman in her separation was not only defiled, but separated from the congregation Le 15:19), so Israel, having defiled both herself and her land, required to be removed from it (Le Eze_18:28). And she was. Jehovah scattered her among the heathen and dispersed her through the countries.
20And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
20. profaned my holy name, when they--the heathen
said to them--the Israelites.
These, &c.--The Israelites gave a handle of reproach to the heathen against God, who would naturally say, These who take usury, oppress, commit adultery, &c., and who, in such an abject plight, are "gone forth" as exiles "out of His land," are specimens of what Jehovah can or will effect, for His people, and show what kind of a God this so-called holy, omnipotent, covenant-keeping God must be! (Is 52:5; Ro 2:24).
20. profaned my holy name, when they--the heathen
said to them--the Israelites.
These, &c.--The Israelites gave a handle of reproach to the heathen against God, who would naturally say, These who take usury, oppress, commit adultery, &c., and who, in such an abject plight, are "gone forth" as exiles "out of His land," are specimens of what Jehovah can or will effect, for His people, and show what kind of a God this so-called holy, omnipotent, covenant-keeping God must be! (Is 52:5; Ro 2:24).
The Pulpit Commentary
They profaned my holy Name; or, the name of my holiness. According to Kliefoth, the subject of the verb is "the heathen," but expositors generally regard it as "the house of Israel" of Eze_36:17. Plumptre thinks that "while grammatically the words may refer to either the heathen or the exiles of Israel, possibly the sentence was purposely left vague, so as to describe the fact in which both were sharers," and cites in support of this view similar constructions in Isa_55:5 and Rom_2:24. What led to the profanation of Jehovah's Name by the heathen was the arrival among them, not of the news of the calamity which had befallen Israel (Kliefoth, Hengstenberg), but of the house of Israel itself; and the actual profanation lay in this, that, having beheld the exiles, they said, These are the people of the Lord, and they are gone forth out of his land. As the heathen recognized only local divinities, they concluded Jehovah had either behaved capriciously towards his people and east them off (comp. Jer_23:40; Jer_29:18; Jer_33:24), or had proved unequal to the task of protecting them so that they had been driven off (comp. Eze_20:5, etc.; Num_14:16; Jer_14:9). In either case, the honor of Jehovah had been lessened in the minds and tarnished by the words of the heathen, and inasmuch as this result had been brought about by Israel's sin, on Israel properly the blame lay.
They profaned my holy Name; or, the name of my holiness. According to Kliefoth, the subject of the verb is "the heathen," but expositors generally regard it as "the house of Israel" of Eze_36:17. Plumptre thinks that "while grammatically the words may refer to either the heathen or the exiles of Israel, possibly the sentence was purposely left vague, so as to describe the fact in which both were sharers," and cites in support of this view similar constructions in Isa_55:5 and Rom_2:24. What led to the profanation of Jehovah's Name by the heathen was the arrival among them, not of the news of the calamity which had befallen Israel (Kliefoth, Hengstenberg), but of the house of Israel itself; and the actual profanation lay in this, that, having beheld the exiles, they said, These are the people of the Lord, and they are gone forth out of his land. As the heathen recognized only local divinities, they concluded Jehovah had either behaved capriciously towards his people and east them off (comp. Jer_23:40; Jer_29:18; Jer_33:24), or had proved unequal to the task of protecting them so that they had been driven off (comp. Eze_20:5, etc.; Num_14:16; Jer_14:9). In either case, the honor of Jehovah had been lessened in the minds and tarnished by the words of the heathen, and inasmuch as this result had been brought about by Israel's sin, on Israel properly the blame lay.
21But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
21. I had pity for mine holy name--that is, I felt pity for it; God's own name, so dishonored, was the primary object of His pitying concern; then His people, secondarily, through His concern for it [Fairbairn].
21. I had pity for mine holy name--that is, I felt pity for it; God's own name, so dishonored, was the primary object of His pitying concern; then His people, secondarily, through His concern for it [Fairbairn].
The Pulpit Commentary
I had pity for mille holy Name. Havernick, after the LXX; wrongly renders, "I spared (them, i.e. Israel) for my holy Name s sake; but the preposition for or "upon" following the verb usually marks the object upon which the action of the verb terminates (see Eze_16:5). Gesenius translates, "I will be sparing of my holy Name;" i.e. I will care for its honor.
I had pity for mille holy Name. Havernick, after the LXX; wrongly renders, "I spared (them, i.e. Israel) for my holy Name s sake; but the preposition for or "upon" following the verb usually marks the object upon which the action of the verb terminates (see Eze_16:5). Gesenius translates, "I will be sparing of my holy Name;" i.e. I will care for its honor.
Not for Your Sakes, But for Mine Holy Name
22Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
22. not ... for your sakes--that is, not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part, there is everything to call down continued severity (compare De 9:5, 6). The sole and sure ground of hope was God's regard to "His own name," as the God of covenant grace (Psa 106:45), which He must vindicate from the dishonor brought on it by the Jews, before the heathen.
22. not ... for your sakes--that is, not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part, there is everything to call down continued severity (compare De 9:5, 6). The sole and sure ground of hope was God's regard to "His own name," as the God of covenant grace (Psa 106:45), which He must vindicate from the dishonor brought on it by the Jews, before the heathen.
The Pulpit Commentary
Not for your sakes … but for mine holy Name's sake. Thus Jehovah repudiates the claim of merit on Israel's part (comp. Eze_36:32); and if Israel had no claim on Jehovah for deliverance from the Babylonish exile any more than she had at first to be put in possession of Canaan (Deu_9:6), much less has fallen man a claim on God for salvation from the condemnation and dominion of sin (Rom_11:6; Eph_2:8-10). As the essential holiness and righteousness of God were the real reason of Israel's exile and dispersion among the nations, so were these qualities in God the ultimate grounds to which Israel's recovery and restoration should be traced.
Not for your sakes … but for mine holy Name's sake. Thus Jehovah repudiates the claim of merit on Israel's part (comp. Eze_36:32); and if Israel had no claim on Jehovah for deliverance from the Babylonish exile any more than she had at first to be put in possession of Canaan (Deu_9:6), much less has fallen man a claim on God for salvation from the condemnation and dominion of sin (Rom_11:6; Eph_2:8-10). As the essential holiness and righteousness of God were the real reason of Israel's exile and dispersion among the nations, so were these qualities in God the ultimate grounds to which Israel's recovery and restoration should be traced.
23And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
23. sanctify--vindicate and manifest as holy, in opposition to the heathen reproaches of it brought on by the Jews' sins and their punishment (see on Eze 36:20).
sanctified in you--that is, in respect of you; I shall be regarded in their eyes as the Holy One, and righteous in My dealings towards you (Eze 20:41; 28:22).
23. sanctify--vindicate and manifest as holy, in opposition to the heathen reproaches of it brought on by the Jews' sins and their punishment (see on Eze 36:20).
sanctified in you--that is, in respect of you; I shall be regarded in their eyes as the Holy One, and righteous in My dealings towards you (Eze 20:41; 28:22).
The Pulpit Commentary
I will sanctify my great Name; i.e. the name of my holiness (Deu_28:58; Psa_8:1; Mal_1:11). As Israel's dispersion had caused that Name to be profaned, so Israel's restoration would secure that it should be magnified among the heathen (Eze_38:23), who should learn from this event that their previous ideas of Jehovah, as a feeble and local divinity, had been wrong. The question whether your eyes, as in the Hebrew text, or "their eyes," as in many ancient versions, should be read is debated. The latter reading appears to be demanded by the usus loquendi of Ezekiel (see Eze_20:41; Eze_28:25; Eze_38:16; Eze_39:27), and is adopted by both English versions as well as by interpreters of eminence; but other expositors of equal name adhere to the former reading on the ground that the sanctifying of Jehovah's Name in the eyes of Israel was an indispensable preliminary to its sanctification in the eyes of the heathen. Havernick regards "their eyes" as "an obvious emendation to relieve a difficulty," to which in no case should criticism accord the preference; while Keil gives it the preference, though admitting that "your eyes" can be justified.
I will sanctify my great Name; i.e. the name of my holiness (Deu_28:58; Psa_8:1; Mal_1:11). As Israel's dispersion had caused that Name to be profaned, so Israel's restoration would secure that it should be magnified among the heathen (Eze_38:23), who should learn from this event that their previous ideas of Jehovah, as a feeble and local divinity, had been wrong. The question whether your eyes, as in the Hebrew text, or "their eyes," as in many ancient versions, should be read is debated. The latter reading appears to be demanded by the usus loquendi of Ezekiel (see Eze_20:41; Eze_28:25; Eze_38:16; Eze_39:27), and is adopted by both English versions as well as by interpreters of eminence; but other expositors of equal name adhere to the former reading on the ground that the sanctifying of Jehovah's Name in the eyes of Israel was an indispensable preliminary to its sanctification in the eyes of the heathen. Havernick regards "their eyes" as "an obvious emendation to relieve a difficulty," to which in no case should criticism accord the preference; while Keil gives it the preference, though admitting that "your eyes" can be justified.
A New Heart and a New Spirit
24For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
24. Fulfilled primarily in the restoration from Babylon; ultimately to be so in the restoration "from all countries."
24. Fulfilled primarily in the restoration from Babylon; ultimately to be so in the restoration "from all countries."
The Pulpit Commentary
I will take you from among the heathen; or, nations. The first step in the sanctification of Jehovah's Name. A promise already given (Eze_11:17; Eze_20:41, Eze_20:42), and afterwards repeated (Eze_37:21). The mention of "all countries" shows the prophet's gaze to have been directed beyond the present or immediate future. The Israel of Ezekiel's time had not been scattered among and could not be gathered from all, countries; yet in the years that have passed since then Ezekiel's language as to Israel's dispersion has been literally fulfilled. Wherefore the inference is reasonable that the reassembling to which Ezekiel refers is an event that has not yet occurred, at least in its fullest measure and degree, but will only then be realized completely and finally when the scattered members of the house of Israel shall have been received into the Christian Church (Rom_11:25, Rom_11:26).
I will take you from among the heathen; or, nations. The first step in the sanctification of Jehovah's Name. A promise already given (Eze_11:17; Eze_20:41, Eze_20:42), and afterwards repeated (Eze_37:21). The mention of "all countries" shows the prophet's gaze to have been directed beyond the present or immediate future. The Israel of Ezekiel's time had not been scattered among and could not be gathered from all, countries; yet in the years that have passed since then Ezekiel's language as to Israel's dispersion has been literally fulfilled. Wherefore the inference is reasonable that the reassembling to which Ezekiel refers is an event that has not yet occurred, at least in its fullest measure and degree, but will only then be realized completely and finally when the scattered members of the house of Israel shall have been received into the Christian Church (Rom_11:25, Rom_11:26).
★25Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
25. The external restoration must be preceded by an internal one. The change in their condition must not be superficial, but must be based on a radical renewal of the heart. Then the heathen, understanding from the regenerated lives of God's people how holy God is, would perceive Israel's past troubles to have been only the necessary vindications of His righteousness. Thus God's name would be "sanctified" before the heathen, and God's people be prepared for outward blessings.
sprinkle ... water--phraseology taken from the law; namely, the water mixed with the ashes of a heifer sprinkled with a hyssop on the unclean (Nu 19:9-18); the thing signified being the cleansing blood of Christ sprinkled on the conscience and heart (He 9:13, 14; 10:22; compare Jr 33:8; Ep 5:26).
from all your idols--Literal idolatry has ceased among the Jews ever since the captivity; so far, the prophecy has been already fulfilled; but "cleansing from all their idols," for example, covetousness, prejudices against Jesus of Nazareth, is yet future.
25. The external restoration must be preceded by an internal one. The change in their condition must not be superficial, but must be based on a radical renewal of the heart. Then the heathen, understanding from the regenerated lives of God's people how holy God is, would perceive Israel's past troubles to have been only the necessary vindications of His righteousness. Thus God's name would be "sanctified" before the heathen, and God's people be prepared for outward blessings.
sprinkle ... water--phraseology taken from the law; namely, the water mixed with the ashes of a heifer sprinkled with a hyssop on the unclean (Nu 19:9-18); the thing signified being the cleansing blood of Christ sprinkled on the conscience and heart (He 9:13, 14; 10:22; compare Jr 33:8; Ep 5:26).
from all your idols--Literal idolatry has ceased among the Jews ever since the captivity; so far, the prophecy has been already fulfilled; but "cleansing from all their idols," for example, covetousness, prejudices against Jesus of Nazareth, is yet future.
The Pulpit Commentary
Then (literally, and) I will sprinkle clean water upon you. The second step in the sanctification of Jehovah's Name, and one absolutely necessary to render the preceding either permanent or valuable, was the moral renovation of the people; and in this the first stage was the forgiveness of the people's sins. The image under which this is set forth, "sprinkling with clean water," would naturally present itself to a priest-prophet such as Ezekiel. Jarchi, Rosenmüller, Hengstenberg, and others suppose the allusion to be to the water of purification prepared by mixing running water with the ashes of a red heifer (Num_19:17-19), and in the account given of this rite the verb for "sprinkle" is that used by Ezekiel, viz. זָרַק. Havernick prefers the rite performed in the consecration of the Levites (Num_8:7, Num_8:21). Smend, who holds the priest-code had no existence in Ezekiel's day, traces the image to Zec_13:1 or Psa_51:2, though he also cites Num_8:19. Hitzig, Kliefoth, and Currey think of the lustrations of the Law in general; and perhaps this best explains the prophet's language, since the element sprinkled is not "blood" or "water mixed with ashes," but "clean water," "the best known means of purification" (Schroder). As to whether legal or moral cleansing were intended by the prophet, possibly Ezekiel drew no sharp distinction between the two, such as the New Testament draws between justification and sanctification; if he did, then the figure in the text must be taken as alluding rather to the former than to the latter—rather to the forgiveness of Israel's sin than to the regeneration of Israel's heart, which is next referred to.
Eze_36:26, Eze_36:27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. The third step in the progress of sanctifying Jehovah's Name (comp. Eze_11:19, where a similar promise is made, and Eze_18:31, where the new heart is represented as a thing Israel must make for herself). This antinomy frequently occurs in Scripture, which never shrinks from holding man responsible for the production of that, as e.g. faith, for which he is incompetent without the help of Divine grace. Besides the cleansing of her guilt and her restitution in consequence to Jehovah's favor, Israel is promised such an inward renovation of her moral and spiritual disposition as to secure that she shall in future adhere to the worship and service of Jehovah. This change is described in a fourfold way.
(1) Negatively, as a removal of the old, stony, unsusceptible heart, which had remained impervious to all appeals and insertsible to all higher feelings (Zec_7:12).
(2) Positively, as a new heart and a new spirit, called elsewhere "one heart" and "a heart of flesh" (Eze_11:19; Jer_32:39), "a heart to know God" (Jer_24:7).
(3) Causally, its existence being traced to the indwelling of God's Spirit, who writes God's Law upon the new heart, and inclines it to a life of obedience thereto (Jer_31:33).
(4) Practically, by its manifestation, walking in God's statutes and keeping God s judgments (Eze_11:20). The account here furnished of the moral and spiritual change proposed to be inwrought on Israel cot-responds exactly with that given in the New Testament of the regeneration of the individual soul (Joh_3:3-8; Rom_8:2, Rom_8:5, Rom_8:9; Gal_5:22; Tit_3:5, Tit_3:6; 1Pe_1:22).
Then (literally, and) I will sprinkle clean water upon you. The second step in the sanctification of Jehovah's Name, and one absolutely necessary to render the preceding either permanent or valuable, was the moral renovation of the people; and in this the first stage was the forgiveness of the people's sins. The image under which this is set forth, "sprinkling with clean water," would naturally present itself to a priest-prophet such as Ezekiel. Jarchi, Rosenmüller, Hengstenberg, and others suppose the allusion to be to the water of purification prepared by mixing running water with the ashes of a red heifer (Num_19:17-19), and in the account given of this rite the verb for "sprinkle" is that used by Ezekiel, viz. זָרַק. Havernick prefers the rite performed in the consecration of the Levites (Num_8:7, Num_8:21). Smend, who holds the priest-code had no existence in Ezekiel's day, traces the image to Zec_13:1 or Psa_51:2, though he also cites Num_8:19. Hitzig, Kliefoth, and Currey think of the lustrations of the Law in general; and perhaps this best explains the prophet's language, since the element sprinkled is not "blood" or "water mixed with ashes," but "clean water," "the best known means of purification" (Schroder). As to whether legal or moral cleansing were intended by the prophet, possibly Ezekiel drew no sharp distinction between the two, such as the New Testament draws between justification and sanctification; if he did, then the figure in the text must be taken as alluding rather to the former than to the latter—rather to the forgiveness of Israel's sin than to the regeneration of Israel's heart, which is next referred to.
Eze_36:26, Eze_36:27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. The third step in the progress of sanctifying Jehovah's Name (comp. Eze_11:19, where a similar promise is made, and Eze_18:31, where the new heart is represented as a thing Israel must make for herself). This antinomy frequently occurs in Scripture, which never shrinks from holding man responsible for the production of that, as e.g. faith, for which he is incompetent without the help of Divine grace. Besides the cleansing of her guilt and her restitution in consequence to Jehovah's favor, Israel is promised such an inward renovation of her moral and spiritual disposition as to secure that she shall in future adhere to the worship and service of Jehovah. This change is described in a fourfold way.
(1) Negatively, as a removal of the old, stony, unsusceptible heart, which had remained impervious to all appeals and insertsible to all higher feelings (Zec_7:12).
(2) Positively, as a new heart and a new spirit, called elsewhere "one heart" and "a heart of flesh" (Eze_11:19; Jer_32:39), "a heart to know God" (Jer_24:7).
(3) Causally, its existence being traced to the indwelling of God's Spirit, who writes God's Law upon the new heart, and inclines it to a life of obedience thereto (Jer_31:33).
(4) Practically, by its manifestation, walking in God's statutes and keeping God s judgments (Eze_11:20). The account here furnished of the moral and spiritual change proposed to be inwrought on Israel cot-responds exactly with that given in the New Testament of the regeneration of the individual soul (Joh_3:3-8; Rom_8:2, Rom_8:5, Rom_8:9; Gal_5:22; Tit_3:5, Tit_3:6; 1Pe_1:22).
★26A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
26. new heart--mind and will.
spirit--motive and principle of action.
stony heart--unimpressible in serious things; like the "stony ground" (Mt 13:5, 20), unfit for receiving the good seed so as to bring forth fruit.
heart of flesh--not "carnal" in opposition to "spiritual"; but impressible and docile, fit for receiving the good seed. In Eze 18:31 they are commanded, "Make you a new heart, and a new spirit." Here God says, "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Thus the responsibility of man, and the sovereign grace of God, are shown to be coexistent. Man cannot make himself a new heart unless God gives it (Php 2:12, 13).
26. new heart--mind and will.
spirit--motive and principle of action.
stony heart--unimpressible in serious things; like the "stony ground" (Mt 13:5, 20), unfit for receiving the good seed so as to bring forth fruit.
heart of flesh--not "carnal" in opposition to "spiritual"; but impressible and docile, fit for receiving the good seed. In Eze 18:31 they are commanded, "Make you a new heart, and a new spirit." Here God says, "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Thus the responsibility of man, and the sovereign grace of God, are shown to be coexistent. Man cannot make himself a new heart unless God gives it (Php 2:12, 13).
★27And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
27. my spirit--(Eze 11:19; Jr 32:39). The partial reformation at the return from Babylon (Ezr 10:6, &c.; Ne 8:1-9:38) was an earnest of the full renewal hereafter under Messiah.
27. my spirit--(Eze 11:19; Jr 32:39). The partial reformation at the return from Babylon (Ezr 10:6, &c.; Ne 8:1-9:38) was an earnest of the full renewal hereafter under Messiah.
28And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
28. ye ... my people, ... I ... your God--(Eze 11:20; Jr 30:22).
28. ye ... my people, ... I ... your God--(Eze 11:20; Jr 30:22).
The Pulpit Commentary
describe the results which should follow in Israel's experience when God should have thus gathered, cleansed, and renewed them. They should then have
(1) permanent occupation of the land (Eze_36:28);
(2) covenant relationship with God as his people (Eze_36:28);
(3) protection against future lapsing into idolatry and immorality (verse
9);
(4) abundant supply for every want (Eze_36:29, Eze_36:30); and
(5) a deepening sense of self-humiliation on account of and repentance for past sin (Eze_36:31).
Ye shall dwell in the land. As the Jews who returned from Babylon did not permanently dwell in the land, but were again ejected from it, the promise contained in these words must be viewed as having been conditional on the realization of the moral and spiritual purity above described. If, therefore, it be aroused that inasmuch as this promise must be fulfilled (2Co_1:20; Heb_10:23), the Jews must yet be restored to Palestine, the reply is that their return can only take place when they have been converted to Christianity; so that the whole promise must be regarded as receiving its highest fulfillment in the experiences of the Church of Christ. That this view is correct is vouched for by the fact that the words, Ye shall be my people and I will be your God (comp. Eze_11:20 : Jer_7:23; Jer_11:4; Jer_30:22), descriptive of the covenant relationship in which Jehovah stood towards Israel (Exo_19:5; Le Exo_26:12; Deu_26:17, Deu_26:18), have been chosen by New Testament writers to set forth the relationship of God towards the Christian Church, first here on earth (2Co_6:16-18), and afterwards in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev_21:3).
describe the results which should follow in Israel's experience when God should have thus gathered, cleansed, and renewed them. They should then have
(1) permanent occupation of the land (Eze_36:28);
(2) covenant relationship with God as his people (Eze_36:28);
(3) protection against future lapsing into idolatry and immorality (verse
9);
(4) abundant supply for every want (Eze_36:29, Eze_36:30); and
(5) a deepening sense of self-humiliation on account of and repentance for past sin (Eze_36:31).
Ye shall dwell in the land. As the Jews who returned from Babylon did not permanently dwell in the land, but were again ejected from it, the promise contained in these words must be viewed as having been conditional on the realization of the moral and spiritual purity above described. If, therefore, it be aroused that inasmuch as this promise must be fulfilled (2Co_1:20; Heb_10:23), the Jews must yet be restored to Palestine, the reply is that their return can only take place when they have been converted to Christianity; so that the whole promise must be regarded as receiving its highest fulfillment in the experiences of the Church of Christ. That this view is correct is vouched for by the fact that the words, Ye shall be my people and I will be your God (comp. Eze_11:20 : Jer_7:23; Jer_11:4; Jer_30:22), descriptive of the covenant relationship in which Jehovah stood towards Israel (Exo_19:5; Le Exo_26:12; Deu_26:17, Deu_26:18), have been chosen by New Testament writers to set forth the relationship of God towards the Christian Church, first here on earth (2Co_6:16-18), and afterwards in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev_21:3).
29I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
29. save ... from all ... uncleannesses--the province of Jesus, according to the signification of His name (Mt 1:21). To be specially exercised in behalf of the Jews in the latter days (Ro 11:26).
call for ... corn--as a master "calls for" a servant; all the powers and productions of nature are the servants of Jehovah (Psa 105:16; Mt 8:8, 9). Compare as to the subordination of all the intermediate agents to the Great First Cause, who will give "corn" and all good things to His people, Ho 2:21, 22; Zec 8:12.
29. save ... from all ... uncleannesses--the province of Jesus, according to the signification of His name (Mt 1:21). To be specially exercised in behalf of the Jews in the latter days (Ro 11:26).
call for ... corn--as a master "calls for" a servant; all the powers and productions of nature are the servants of Jehovah (Psa 105:16; Mt 8:8, 9). Compare as to the subordination of all the intermediate agents to the Great First Cause, who will give "corn" and all good things to His people, Ho 2:21, 22; Zec 8:12.
The Pulpit Commentary
From all your uncleannesses. The same word as in Eze_36:25, though with difference in meaning. From their uncleanness of the past they have already been saved (Eze_36:25); the present promise guarantees preservation against future lapsing into uncleanness, i.e. the filthiness of idol-service. "With this," writes Plumptre, "the necessity for temporal chastisements as a corrective discipline should cease, and there would be nothing to check the full outpouring of all material as well as spiritual blessings." With the phrase, I will call for the corn, compare the similar expressions in 2Ki_8:1; Hos_2:23, etc.; Jer_31:12; Zec_9:17.
From all your uncleannesses. The same word as in Eze_36:25, though with difference in meaning. From their uncleanness of the past they have already been saved (Eze_36:25); the present promise guarantees preservation against future lapsing into uncleanness, i.e. the filthiness of idol-service. "With this," writes Plumptre, "the necessity for temporal chastisements as a corrective discipline should cease, and there would be nothing to check the full outpouring of all material as well as spiritual blessings." With the phrase, I will call for the corn, compare the similar expressions in 2Ki_8:1; Hos_2:23, etc.; Jer_31:12; Zec_9:17.
30And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
30. no more reproach of famine among the heathen--to which their taunt (Eze 36:13), "Thou land devourest up men," in part referred.
30. no more reproach of famine among the heathen--to which their taunt (Eze 36:13), "Thou land devourest up men," in part referred.
31Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
31. remember your ... evil ways--with shame and loathing. The unexpected grace and love of God, manifested in Christ to Israel, shall melt the people into true repentance, which mere legal fear could not (Eze 16:61, 63; Psa 130:4; Zec 12:10; compare Jr 33:8, 9).
31. remember your ... evil ways--with shame and loathing. The unexpected grace and love of God, manifested in Christ to Israel, shall melt the people into true repentance, which mere legal fear could not (Eze 16:61, 63; Psa 130:4; Zec 12:10; compare Jr 33:8, 9).
The Pulpit Commentary
Ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight (comp. Eze_16:61; Eze_42:10). The last result of this enlarged experience of the Divine goodness would be to quicken in the heart of forgiven and renewed Israel a sense of shame and a feeling of repentance (comp. Rom_2:4).
Ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight (comp. Eze_16:61; Eze_42:10). The last result of this enlarged experience of the Divine goodness would be to quicken in the heart of forgiven and renewed Israel a sense of shame and a feeling of repentance (comp. Rom_2:4).
32Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
The Pulpit Commentary
repeats and emphasizes the thought of Eze_36:22, that the true ground of God's gracious dealing with Israel should be found, not in their merit, but in his grace. So far as their ways were concerned, there was cause only for judgment on his part and self-humiliation on theirs.
repeats and emphasizes the thought of Eze_36:22, that the true ground of God's gracious dealing with Israel should be found, not in their merit, but in his grace. So far as their ways were concerned, there was cause only for judgment on his part and self-humiliation on theirs.
The Land Like the Garden of Eden
33Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
34And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
35And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
35. they shall say--The heathen, who once made Israel's desolation a ground of reproach against the name of Jehovah Himself (Eze 36:20, 21); but now He so vindicates its sanctity (Eze 36:22, 23) that these same heathen are constrained to acknowledge Israel's more than renewed blessedness to be God's own work, and a ground for glorifying His name (Eze 36:36).
Eden--as Tyre (the type of the world powers in general: so Assyria, a cedar "in the garden of God, Eden," Eze 31:8, 9), in original advantages, had been compared to "Eden, the garden of God" (Eze 28:13), from which she had fallen irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, is to be as "the garden of Eden" (Is 51:3), and is to be so unchangeably.
35. they shall say--The heathen, who once made Israel's desolation a ground of reproach against the name of Jehovah Himself (Eze 36:20, 21); but now He so vindicates its sanctity (Eze 36:22, 23) that these same heathen are constrained to acknowledge Israel's more than renewed blessedness to be God's own work, and a ground for glorifying His name (Eze 36:36).
Eden--as Tyre (the type of the world powers in general: so Assyria, a cedar "in the garden of God, Eden," Eze 31:8, 9), in original advantages, had been compared to "Eden, the garden of God" (Eze 28:13), from which she had fallen irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, is to be as "the garden of Eden" (Is 51:3), and is to be so unchangeably.
The Pulpit Commentary
describe the effect of Israel's restored prosperity on the surrounding nations.
This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden. (For the reverse picture, see Joe_2:3.) The thought of the first Paradise (Gen_2:8), in the historicity of which clearly Ezekiel believed, was one on which his mind often dwelt (Eze_28:13; Eze_31:9) as an ideal of earthly beauty and fertility which should recur in the closing age of the world—a hope which appears to have been shared by Isaiah (Isa_51:3), and taken up by John (Rev_2:7; Rev_22:1-3). In the day when that hope should be realized for Israel, the waste, desolate, and ruined cities, on which the passers-by who visited Palestine gazed, should be fenced and inhabited; literally, inhabited as fortresses. The three predicates, "waste," "desolate," and" ruined," have been distinguished as signifying "stripped of its inhabitants," "untilled in its lands," and "broken down in its buildings;" in contrast with which, in the golden era of the future, the towns should be inhabited, the fields tilled, and the ruined fortresses built.
describe the effect of Israel's restored prosperity on the surrounding nations.
This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden. (For the reverse picture, see Joe_2:3.) The thought of the first Paradise (Gen_2:8), in the historicity of which clearly Ezekiel believed, was one on which his mind often dwelt (Eze_28:13; Eze_31:9) as an ideal of earthly beauty and fertility which should recur in the closing age of the world—a hope which appears to have been shared by Isaiah (Isa_51:3), and taken up by John (Rev_2:7; Rev_22:1-3). In the day when that hope should be realized for Israel, the waste, desolate, and ruined cities, on which the passers-by who visited Palestine gazed, should be fenced and inhabited; literally, inhabited as fortresses. The three predicates, "waste," "desolate," and" ruined," have been distinguished as signifying "stripped of its inhabitants," "untilled in its lands," and "broken down in its buildings;" in contrast with which, in the golden era of the future, the towns should be inhabited, the fields tilled, and the ruined fortresses built.
36Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
36. Lord ... spoken ... do it--(Nu 23:19).
36. Lord ... spoken ... do it--(Nu 23:19).
The Pulpit Commentary
The heathen that are left round about you. The language presupposes that at or before the time of Israel's restoration the judgments pronounced against the nations will have overtaken them, so that only a remnant of them will be then in existence. Kliefoth and Currey view this remnant as those who shall have been converted out of heathendom and become attached to the community of Israel, like "the nations of the saved" in Rev_21:24; Keil, with more accuracy, regards their conversion as resulting from their recognition of the hand of God in building again the wastes places of Jerusalem.
The heathen that are left round about you. The language presupposes that at or before the time of Israel's restoration the judgments pronounced against the nations will have overtaken them, so that only a remnant of them will be then in existence. Kliefoth and Currey view this remnant as those who shall have been converted out of heathendom and become attached to the community of Israel, like "the nations of the saved" in Rev_21:24; Keil, with more accuracy, regards their conversion as resulting from their recognition of the hand of God in building again the wastes places of Jerusalem.
37Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
37. I will yet for this be inquired of--so as to grant it. On former occasions He had refused to be inquired of by Israel because the inquirers were not in a fit condition of mind to receive a blessing (Eze 14:3; 20:3). But hereafter, as in the restoration from Babylon (Ne 8:1-9:38; Da 9:3-20, 21, 23), God will prepare His people's hearts (Eze 36:26) to pray aright for the blessings which He is about to give (Psa 102:13-17, 20; Zec 12:10-14; 13:1).
like a flock--resuming the image (Eze 34:23, 31).
37. I will yet for this be inquired of--so as to grant it. On former occasions He had refused to be inquired of by Israel because the inquirers were not in a fit condition of mind to receive a blessing (Eze 14:3; 20:3). But hereafter, as in the restoration from Babylon (Ne 8:1-9:38; Da 9:3-20, 21, 23), God will prepare His people's hearts (Eze 36:26) to pray aright for the blessings which He is about to give (Psa 102:13-17, 20; Zec 12:10-14; 13:1).
like a flock--resuming the image (Eze 34:23, 31).
The Pulpit Commentary
I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. On two previous occasions (Eze_14:3; Eze_20:3), Jehovah had declined to be inquired of by the hypocritical and idol-loving elders of Israel, who pretended to consult him through his prophet; now he makes it known that in the future era no barrier of moral and spiritual unfitness on their part will prevent their free approach to his throne, but rather that they will come to him with fervent supplications for the very blessings he has pro-raised. In answer to their prayers, he engages, going back to the language of Eze_34:22, to increase them with men like a flock—incorrectly rendered by Kliefoth to "multiply them so that they shall become the flock of mankind." Thus he meets the despondency of those among the exiles who, fixing their attention on the small number of them who should form the new Israel—those who should return with those, perhaps, who still remained in the land-could not see how Israel's future prosperity was to be secured.
I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. On two previous occasions (Eze_14:3; Eze_20:3), Jehovah had declined to be inquired of by the hypocritical and idol-loving elders of Israel, who pretended to consult him through his prophet; now he makes it known that in the future era no barrier of moral and spiritual unfitness on their part will prevent their free approach to his throne, but rather that they will come to him with fervent supplications for the very blessings he has pro-raised. In answer to their prayers, he engages, going back to the language of Eze_34:22, to increase them with men like a flock—incorrectly rendered by Kliefoth to "multiply them so that they shall become the flock of mankind." Thus he meets the despondency of those among the exiles who, fixing their attention on the small number of them who should form the new Israel—those who should return with those, perhaps, who still remained in the land-could not see how Israel's future prosperity was to be secured.
38As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
38. As the holy flock--the great flock of choice animals for sacrifice, brought up to Jerusalem at the three great yearly festivals, the passover, pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles.
38. As the holy flock--the great flock of choice animals for sacrifice, brought up to Jerusalem at the three great yearly festivals, the passover, pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles.
The Pulpit Commentary
The people who should occupy the land of Israel in the coming age should be as the holy flock—literally, as the flock of holy things, or beasts; i.e. of sacrificial lambs—as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; literally, in her appointed times; i.e. her festal seasons (comp. Mic_2:12), referring to the three well-known annual occasions when the male population of the land came to the sanctuary (Deu_16:16), and when in consequence the flocks and herds poured into the metropolis were well-nigh past reckoning (see 2Ch_29:33; 2Ch_35:7; and comp. Josephus, 'Wars,' 6.9. 3). Perhaps in addition to the idea of the multiplication of the people, that of their dedication to the service of Jehovah is suggested by the prophet's language.
The people who should occupy the land of Israel in the coming age should be as the holy flock—literally, as the flock of holy things, or beasts; i.e. of sacrificial lambs—as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; literally, in her appointed times; i.e. her festal seasons (comp. Mic_2:12), referring to the three well-known annual occasions when the male population of the land came to the sanctuary (Deu_16:16), and when in consequence the flocks and herds poured into the metropolis were well-nigh past reckoning (see 2Ch_29:33; 2Ch_35:7; and comp. Josephus, 'Wars,' 6.9. 3). Perhaps in addition to the idea of the multiplication of the people, that of their dedication to the service of Jehovah is suggested by the prophet's language.
THE HOLY BIBLE
Ezekiel
Chapter 36
Translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised.
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